Integrated circuits (ICs) and other electronic devices often include arrangements of interconnected field effect transistors (FETs), also called metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs), or simply MOS transistors or devices. A typical MOS transistor includes a gate electrode as a control electrode and spaced apart source and drain electrodes. A control voltage applied to the gate electrode controls the flow of current through a controllable conductive channel between the source and drain electrodes.
Power transistor devices are designed to be tolerant of the high currents and voltages that are present in power applications such as motion control, air bag deployment, and automotive fuel injector drivers. One type of power MOS transistor is a laterally diffused metal-oxide-semiconductor (LDMOS) transistor. In an LDMOS device, a drift space is provided between the channel region and the drain region.
LDMOS devices may be designed to operate in a high-side configuration in which all of the device terminals are level shifted with respect to the substrate potential. Devices configured for high-side operation have been applied in power switchers in DC-to-DC converters, which have respective LDMOS devices for the high side and low side. High-side capable devices may be designed to prevent a direct punch-through path from a body region of the LDMOS device to an underlying, heavily doped substrate.
LDMOS devices are often used in applications, such as automotive applications, involving operational voltages greater than 45 Volts. Breakdown resulting from applying such high voltages to the drain is often prevented through a reduced surface field (RESURF) structure of the LDMOS device design. The RESURF structure is designed to deplete the drift space of the LDMOS device in both vertical and lateral directions, thereby reducing the electric field in the PN junctions surrounding the drift region and thus raising the breakdown voltage (BVDSS) of the device.
Typically a trade-off exists between BVDSS and drain-source ON-resistance (Rdson). BVDSS determines the achievable output voltage rating for the device. Rdson determines the device area required to handle a given amount of current, e.g., the current or power rating of the device. Designing a device to achieve a higher BVDSS level (and therefore higher operating voltage) is often at the cost of increased Rdson (and thus lower current rating per unit area). For example, the BVDSS level may be increased by increasing the length of the drift space of the device or reducing the dopant concentration in the drift space, both of which increase Rdson. Conversely, designing a device to reduce Rdson (and thus increase the current rating per unit area) leads to lower BVDSS levels (and thus lower operating voltage). For example, a higher dopant concentration in the drift space lowers Rdson at the expense of a lower BVDSS. Other Rdson reduction techniques involve increasing device area and, thus, the manufacturing cost of the device.